TOTAL | TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria - A new era of zero fuel and FX subsidies
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At the end of Q1'23, Brent price was down 26.1% YoY at $79.77 per barrel. However, the commodity fared better between January 2023 and March 2023, with a related contraction of only 7.2% and a higher mean price of $82.22 per barrel. The downward pressure on the crude price primarily reflected unique demand and supply side triggers. The demand outlook for crude was further negatively affected by concerns stoked by the decline in China's leading growth/demand indicator — Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), in April 2023 to 49.2 from 51.9 in March 2023. In addition to the concerns over China, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic Bank, and UBS's rescue acquisition of Credit Suisse heightened apprehensions regarding global economic growth and oil demand. Thus, aided by the higher-than-expected output from Russia, which increased the global oil supply, crude prices experienced downward pressures in the period.